Once in a Blue Moon
by FlamesEmbrace
Summary: One miserable night, Meowth finds himself leading Pikachu and Buneary on an ill-advised adventure to a midnight party he was making up the whole time. Krazyshipping Meowth/Pikachu One-shot


Title: Once in a Blue Moon

Author: Ember

Pairing: Krazyshipping (Meowth x Pikachu)

Rated: PG for critter-centric yaoi

Author's Notes: A pairing I've been completely mad about for some time… My Pokemon OTP by a landslide. I know Krazyshipping isn't everyone's cup-of-tea, and so, if you're not keen on it, I won't whine. But don't come here to complain about those of us who are partial to it. ^^

This is much more of a monster of a fic than I intended it to be, and I am proud of it despite its syrupy sweetness and slight kitsch. It is, after all, a one-shot for the World's Cutest Pairing, and so one shouldn't expect anything different.

--

Meowth had it all figured out.

This wasn't particularly surprising- at least not to Meowth himself. He was, after all, the self-proclaimed Brains of Team Rocket, and if the other two had just listened to him and maybe tuned down their egos a little bit they'd have made it big a long time ago.

But no- they were all for covered holes and electronic claws and trying to battle much-stronger pokemon with their own weak team- and never mind if the exact same plan had failed spectacularly yesterday. Jessie and James' ill-executed brawn negated Meowth's master scheming, and in his opinion it was entirely their fault he was squatting in the mud, chewing the top off his last can of Pokechow, completely soaked to the bone and the sort of freezing cold no campfire will ever dispel.

He let them know it, too. "It was da perfect opportunity ta catch Pikachu," he insisted, around a mouthful of aluminum can. He paused to rip the pop-top the rest of the way off, then spit it carelessly on the ground. (The poor chow had been witness to the similar massacres of all its siblings months ago, and had found that the only way to save itself was to cower in the corner of Team Rocket's balloon, underneath the pile of Jessie's costume outfits. It had only postponed the inevitable, of course; eventually Meowth had found it, an acceptible amount of time after its expiration date. In a last-ditch effort of self-preservation, it let its full odor of wet chow and rot out into the air. Of course, Meowth did not have a nose.) "We coulda had it! If youse two _knuckle _brains..."

"Are you done yet?" Jessie asked, droningly, thumbing through the inky remains of a waterlogged _Glamour Villain _magazine. Normally, Meowth's comments would provoke bitter bickering and occassionally violence, but the two human members of the Team were just as wet, cold, and muddy as Meowth, and _they_ didn't have a meal in front of them. They lacked the energy to rise to the bait. The tall, thin redhead peeled two soaking pages apart and tried to open the magazine to the next spread, accidentally ripping one page in half. That destroyed the cover article- a well-executed story about a new line of beautiful, durable make-up that wouldn't chip, smear or bleed while you were stealing valuable pokemon, collecting powerful Legendaries, committing arson or building Doomsday devices. With a defeated grit of her teeth, Jessie dropped the whole mess into the mud.

Not particularly annoyed by the expected interruption, Meowth drank his chow like water, only particularly putrid water that tasted more like swamp mud something died in. Two years ago- heck, two days ago- when he was more-or-less well-fed, he would have spit it back out, but this time he didn't even choke. When he'd finally gulped down the last swallow, he turned green, collapsed onto his back and groaned to himself. "I deserve better'n dis."

This wasn't the first time he'd mentioned that fact that night. The first few times, James had argued the point; now he just ignored the talking cat, investing his energy in re-organizing his bottle-cap collection by color instead of by brandname.

And then the fire was finally killed off. It wasn't much of a surprise. They'd tried to sheild it from the relentless rain by building a leaf-and-stick lean-to over the flame, but too much was eventually just too much, and the whole thing sputtered to embers, then gave up completely. A coil of white smoke lazily drifted upward, before the intruding rain ruined even that and left nothing but soggy ashes.

For a minute, all three defeated villians stared at what had once been their only source of warmth, then Jessie snarled, "I'm going to bed."

She and James- that is, James, with Jessie's supervision- had flipped the Meowth balloon's basket on its head for some semblence of shelter while they slept, but mud was mud, even when protected from the rain. Jessie was distinctly unhappy as she crawled under the wicker with a thin, damp blanket, her whiplash of hair in soggy lanks down her back. James, with an audible sigh, slid his bottlecaps back into their carrying case, grabbed a blanket of his own, and followed her. She snapped out a swear as he accidentally trod on her fingers, then shoved him to the other side of the tiny little lean-to when she realized the mud from his boot had gotten all over her arm.

Meowth followed close behind into the already-cramped space, stepping on Jessie's face as he struggled into the shelter, wiping his wet tail over James' ear, and bringing with him the distinctive odor of dank fur.

About twenty-five seconds later, he was physically hurled back out into the rain.

"Not. Tonight. Meowth," Jessie screamed after him, finally passing her boiling point.

James, normally the sympathetic one, shook his head and let the edge of the basket hit the mud, effectively locking his feline companion out in the storm.

"Lousy humans," Meowth muttered, flexing his claws. In the distance, thunder growled, and Meowth shivered, wiping cold mud from his paws. It wasn't fair- HE did all the work for the Team and THEY were the ones who got shelter (substandard though it was) while he was cast out in the rain?

He considered curling up and trying to sleep out here, but the idea didn't appeal. He considered somehow lifting the edge of the basket back up and barging back where his sopping companions were already snoring, showing off with Fury Swipes, but there were, after all, two of them and only one of Meowth- and they were both a good bit bigger than he was. And then he considered running away.

And kept considering it.

After all, he was the tactician here. He could make it on his own. Scratch that, he'd probably do BETTER on his own- without those bumbling idiots stepping on the back of his very metaphorical shoes, he'd have nabbed Pikachu AGES ago. Not to mention that without Jessie and James claiming it was THEIR idea, or that they played any part in the scheme other than getting in the way, all the credit would go to Meowth. He'd be the Boss's lapcat again, living in luxury, three-square-meals a day, attention and recognition- none of this camping in the mud. And, after he got over himself, Pikachu wouldn't even mind being part of Team Rocket- once he saw how great it was. Giovanni would be a much better master than that twerp, Ash. They'd be a great team- Pikachu, ready to defend the Boss; Meowth, lending moral support and offering battle plans; and Giovanni, doing whatever it was the Boss did whenever he wasn't telling Jessie and James that they were big, pathetic, failing losers.

"I'll show dem," Meowth decided with a dark look over his shoulder at the over-turned basket, where through the whicker he could hear that James had, for the third night in a row, started mumbling in his sleep about radioactive Ariados. "Dey ain't nothin' without Me-owth."

--

As chance had it, only a few hundred yards from where a very-grumpy Meowth was venturing off into the night, Ash, Dawn and Brock were getting ready for a night's rest. Brock had already scrubbed out the pan he had used to cook their dinner in, and neatly put the leftovers away in rain-proof tupperware. Ash had pitched their tents, cheerful as always despite the gloomy weather.

Only Dawn was put out by the unrelenting rain- this wasn't, after all, how she'd predicted her pokemon journey going. She'd eaten dinner inside her tent, toweling off her soaking hair, and watching the mist accumulate from the relative warmth of her sleeping bag.

Piplup's good spirits at the storm cheered her up a little, though; the little penguin splashed at Buneary, trilled cheerfully, and tried to catch raindrops on his tongue. Ash's Buizel was enjoying the weather, too, soaking in a puddle the way Pikachu liked to soak up the sun.

"Alright, guys," Brock said, after packing all his dishes and leftovers away in his bag. "I'm hitting the sack. We're leaving early tomorrow, don't forget."

Ash nodded and yawned. "I'm gonna turn in, too. You ready, Buizel?" He pulled the water-weasel's pokeball out of a pocket and held it out; the little pokemon good-naturedly nodded and allowed himself to be recalled. Pikachu ran inside Ash's tent before his trainer could get there and rigorously shook out his sopping fur, taking care not to get Ash's sleeping bag wet.

In the tent to Ash's, Buneary was carefully grooming out her fluff. Dawn called Piplup back into his pokeball- to the penguin's slight disappointment, but there would be other rainy evenings- and put that pokeball with Aipom's in her backpack. There was a third, empty capsule in there, as well.

"You wanna be in your's, tonight, sweetie?" she asked Buneary, who blinked at her trainer, then vigorously shook her head. It was a bit chilly out, yes, but the bunny pokemon much preferred to be able to stretch out her paws while napping.

She watched Dawn take off her shoes and put them by her pack, wiggle all the way into her sleeping bag, and lay back against her pillow, flicking off the flashlight that had been her only source of light in the little tent. In the pitch-black the little normal-type hurried up to curl next to the girl. Her trainer dutifully scratched the bunny behind her ears, then closed her eyes."Goodnight, guys," Ash called from the tent to their left.

"Pikapi."

"Night," Brock answered, from the tent to their right.

"Goodnight," Dawn replied.

"Bunibuneary."

And then Buneary closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep. She always had a bit of trouble falling asleep on the best evenings, but cold nights like these she didn't much care for at all- even in Dawn's tent she couldn't get quite warm enough to be comfortable, and after a few minutes of lying still and studying the insides of her eyelids, and she was beginning to regret not spending the night in her pokeball. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes tightly and tried to entertain herself with idle thoughts.

In the bushes around her, something rustled. Her black eyes flew open.

For a few minutes, she listened, stock-still and breathing as quiet as possible, until she was sure she had been imagining things. Everything was absolutely still, save for Dawn's slow, even breathing, Ash snoring next door and Brock mumbling in his sleep. If she listened very hard, she could make out the cute whistling sounds Pikachu made in his slumber- but nothing traipsing around outside their camp.

She closed her eyes and forced herself to relax. She was starting to get warmer and very, very sleepy and so it wasn't very hard.

_Rustlerustle._

"Buni," she growled, annoyed and _certain_, now, she'd heard it. She wiggled out from under Dawn's comforting hand as quickly as she could without waking her dreaming trainer up.

It was still raining steadily outside when she opened the tent flap and poked her head out. Because of this, she really wanted to just go ahead and _see_ that it was nothing more than a passing school of Cherubi, then go back to curl up and get some sleep. Her fur was already uncomfortably damp and she didn't think she'd be able to sleep soaked all the way through.

But she couldn't see anything, in the pitch-black night and mist and rain. And she could hear the noise, a little louder, now, now- definitely two feet (or, probably, paws; it didn't sound heavy enough to be human) trudging around in the then, somewhere not very far away, a fork of lightening illuminated the world, and reflected off two blue eyes and something that looked _just like a golden coin._

All three vanished when the light flicked off. A second later, the accompanying thunder crashed.

By then, Buneary was already running to the next tent to the left. Her eyes were starting to adjust, at least a little, to the gloom, and when she thrust her head through the flap, she could make out Ash, stretched out like a black wurmple in his sleeping bag, with a little fuzzy lump that had to be Pikachu curled up by his head. Buneary squeezed frigid rainwater out of the fluff on the ends of her ears, then tip-toed around Ash's snoring form, towards where Pikachu lay, ears twitching in his sleep.

"Buni," she hissed, shaking Pikachu's shoulder. The electric-type stirred, round eyes opening slowly. "Buni, buneary!"

Pikachu was tired, and not particularly amused. "Pika?" he asked, willing to give Buneary the benefit of the doubt- he always was- but already curling up to go back to sleep.

With a combination of breathless syllables and frantic paw-gestures, Buneary told Pikachu what she had seen. The little rodent frowned and climbed to his paws when she finished her story, round brown eyes narrowed in concern. Not that he was particularly concerned for the group's _safety_; it was more that the last thing he figured Ash needed was to be woken up by his bumbling arch-nemesises trying to make their fortune at someone else's expense.

The two of them crept out of the tent and into the cold mud. The rain had let up a little, but it still soaked through Pikachu's short fur in seconds and drenched Buneary's woolen fuzz. Pikachu's ears strained forward, but he still couldn't hear anything until Buneary whispered and pointed to where the sound was coming from. And then...

_Rustlerustle._

"Pikachu!" the little rodent cried as he sprung forward, sparks flying from the high-charge scarlet pouches on his cheeks. Meowth, standing half-in and half-out of the bushes around the camp, soaked to the bone with his whiskers drooping under heavy, fat drops of water and his ears folded back, froze as the electric light illuminated him and turned the raindrops into quickly-falling vermillion sparkles in the air between him and his little yellow opponent.

The scratch-cat was shocked to be caught snooping around and knew he had merely _seconds_ to think of a good excuse that would allow him to get away scott-free. That didn't concern him any. He had a mind like a steel trap and, under the pure, elemental force of his intellect, Pikachu's electrical shocks had all the power of a single-volt battery cell. If he played his cards right, Meowth mused, he might even be able to convince Pikachu not only to refrain from shocking him to a crisp and sending him blasting off to the ocean, but to follow him- err, somewhere, where Meowth would pull some sort of amazing trickery, capturing both Pikachu and the annoying tagalong Buneary in some sort of impressive-looking, electricity-proof cage (Meowth's imagination gave it low-powered rockets so he didn't have to lug it around all the way back to the Boss in Kanto, a latch that responded only to his pawprint and a savvy blue paint job), securing his promotion back to Giovanni's favorite pokemon and getting rid of that nasty Persian once and for all....

"Pika!" Pikachu snapped in warning, reminding Meowth once more of the issue at hand. The little mouse's fur was standing on end and tiny lines of lightning were tracing patterns over his back. In mere seconds, the painful-looking attack would shoot the cat pokemon from here to the banks of Johto. It was time for another brilliant preformance.

"Whaa?" Meowth drawled, pulling back in immaculately feigned- if several seconds late- surprise. "_Pikachu_? Dis is your camp, den?"

The effect of the act was instantaneous. Pikachu had the flaw in character of wanting to believe the best in everyone- even his worst enemy- and so after a second of suspicious glaring, he stopped charging up for his Thunderbolt attack. The camp went black again, and Meowth's eyes took a bit of time to adjust- but when they did, he saw Pikachu's irritated expression and Buneary's raw suspicion.

"Pi, pika? Pika, pikachu?" the mouse snapped, one ear flicking back, the ragged tone to his normally friendly squeak making it obvious that Meowth had seconds to explain exactly what he was doing in their camp before they went back to the status quo- that is, Pikachu making short work of his enemy and then staggering back to his tent to finish up his night's rest.

"Eheheh," Meowth tittered, nervously, and held his paws up in surrender while the gears in his brain whirled away for an answer. "Well, as fer dat..."

"Buneary," the little rabbit behind Pikachu muttered darkly- at least, as darkly as she was capable of muttering. "Buni, buneary."

"I was NOT snoopin'!" Meowth blurted, "I was... er, lookin' fer somet'ing!"

Pikachu cast a quick glance over his shoulder at Buneary, then blinked suspiciously at Meowth. The scratch-cat was acting funny. He was shifting his weight side-to-side, uncomfortable in the rain. He looked tired, and he wasn't wearing the huge, mischevious smile he usually bore when he was lying through his teeth- as he was probably doing now, Pikachu was forced to admit. The electric rodent wasn't sure why the villain's behavior was all that important, but he couldn't help but wonder what he was doing out here all by himself, anyway.

"Pika?"

"Ah. What is it I'm lookin' for?" Meowth frowned and rubbed his paws together. "Dat is, it's a... it's my..."

"Pi..."

"My lucky Amulet Coin!" Meowth blurted, all at once.

Pikachu and Buneary looked at each other, awkwardly, and nodded. Pikachu's lightning-bolt tail held straight out behind him, he sent a half-charged thundershock in Meowth's direction, hitting him straight-on at point blank range. "Pika, pikachu!"

Meowth cried out, flailing as the attack hit, then sagged down to the ground, contemplating what burning fur must smell like to humans and pokemon with noses. "You don't believe I have a lucky Amulet Coin 'cause you know I can't afford dat sorta thing," he moaned, chastised.

"Pi," Pikachu confirmed, nodding briskly, his eyes narrowed to dark slits in his face. Behind him, Buneary crossed her stubby arms. "Pikachu, pika pi."

"An' you wanna know what I'm really doin' out here hangin' out around yer camp?"

There was something heart-rendingly pathetic about Meowth lying there, without his compatriots- where were they, anyway?- and burned to the ground, that distantly bothered Pikachu- but the electric rodent was too irritated with his sleep being ruined to worry too much about it, or about Meowth. "Pi," he confirmed, waiting for Meowth to answer the question at hand.

"Well," Meowth mused, his genius brain whirling away to come up with an answer, any answer, any answer at all, and he said the first thing that came to his mind: "da truth of da matter is, it's a blue moon tonight." And, with one paw, he gestured up at the cloud-encrusted, moon-less sky.

"Pi, pika!" Pikachu growled, and sparks flew from his cheeks again.

"No, really! Pikachu! Wait!" Meowth sat upright, waved his arms and pointed up at the clouds. Cold, heavy drops of rain fell into Pikachu's face as he followed the trajectory of Meowth's paw- and there, in the clouds, a tiny stripe of white light that could well have been the moon shown through the black haze. "Da blue moon is up t'ere, it's just covered by da rain clouds. When da blue moon comes out, us nocturnal pokemon haveta... err, congregate. It's... err, it's in our blood."

And then he started to tell his story.

Meowth started kind of shakey, but he felt himself starting to get into it; in his mind's eye, Meowth and Murkrow, Persian and Parasect, Dustox and Duskull, Sneasel and Skuntank were dropping from the trees, swimming up the rivers, slinking from the bushes to greet each other, eyes gleaming in the shadows. A Persian and a Houndoom faced each other, ears back and tails slashing side to side; Meowths on one side of the battlefield leered at Houndour on the other. "Sometimes da stronger pokemon battle, fer dominance in their territories, or just 'cause t'ey don't like each ot'er. And..." an Absol and two Murkrow were pulling pink fish out of a nearby river, their keen eyes picking the moving shapes out of the black depths of the water, "t'ere's always plenty t'eat, and big bonfires that everyone sits around, talkin' and laughin'." Meowth could picture it in his mind- a huge fire warming his frigid toes, a friendly Weavile telling him stories about life in the open wild- a life Meowth had never had- and all the food he could stomach! Good food, too; food that had never been canned, never been freeze-dried, food so fresh they hadn't even had a chance to print an expiration date on it yet. "And at da very end..." In Meowth's daydream, two Noctowl and a gang of Hoothoot perched on a treebranch and started singing, their natural chirp unnaturally melodic to the scratch-cat's inner ears- "dere's dancin' until dawn."

The feline pokemon let his mental images slip away, smiling ear-to-ear with a far-away look in his eyes. "It's da best time in my life."

It really was. Meowth's ears quivered with excitement; he couldn't wait to get to the meeting place in the center of the woods, and see the night-time pokemon again, and have his midnight party with others like him...

Except there were no pokemon like Meowth.

And he'd made the whole thing up, anyway.

That kind of put a damper on his enthusiasm, but he tried very hard not to let it show on his face.

Pikachu, however, had listened to the whole story with glowing eyes. The idea of that sort of party sounded fantastic to him- even better than a restful night's sleep! His earlier exhaustion forgotten, and the nasty weather now tucked away at the back of his mind, his imagination played through all sorts of possiblities- exciting bonfire ghost stories, flying through the night sky on a Honchkrow's back, dancing until daybreak with a host of new friends. He shook rainwater off the tips of his ears and grinned up at Meowth. "Pika, pikachu!"

"Err, well, of course you'd wanna come. But, err..."

For the first time in several minutes, Buneary spoke up. Meowth had been so preoccupied with Pikachu and his Thunderbolt he'd almost forgotten she was still there. "Buni, buneary!" she demanded, ears back against her skull.

"How do you know I'm tellin' da truth? Well, you know 'cause if I was lying..."

And here, Meowth paused, and chewed on one claw. He wasn't sure HOW to convince them he was telling the truth. After all, he _was_ lying.

Pikachu frowned. As much fun as the blue moon sounded, Buneary had a point. And if that was the reason behind Meowth meandering around in the rain, alone, then why did he lie about losing an Amulet Coin? "Pika, pikachu pi pi chu?"

Meowth frowned and stepped back. "I said DAT because... because da blue moon is fer nocturnal pokemon only." And, with that, he turned on his heel and started to walk away. "Youse two are daytime pokemon. Yer not even s'posed ta know about it." And now he had an opportunity to get away. A little voice in the back of his head was telling him to wait, that he could lure Pikachu back with him- but that Thundershock had hurt, and he realized he had absolutely no idea what he would do if he DID get Pikachu away from the camp. He'd have another chance at nabbing the electric pokemon, some time when his physical being was not at risk. All he had to do right now was walk. And not stop. And just keep walking.

"Pika," Pikachu called after him and, on reflex, Meowth stopped mid-step. Then winced. "Pika, pikachu! Pika pika pi!"

"I don't care if you wanna see da party," Meowth said, his arms crossed. "Youse two ain't invited."

Pikachu kept walking forward, slowly, until he was just behind Meowth. Behind him, Buneary followed, her ears waterlogged and drooping. "Pika," he said, darkly, glaring at Meowth's back. "Pika pi!"

"Oh," Meowth said, deflating. "You won't believe me unless ya see da blue moon fer yourself."

"Pi!"

"An' if I don't take ya t'see it..."

Pikachu sparked threateningly.

Meowth drew in a deep breath, then let it out. If there was any perfect time for a brilliant idea, it was now."Den what are we waitin' for? Let's go."

--

They walked for an hour or so in the night. The rain strengthened until it pounded the forest around them, then subsided into a background haze. Buneary's powerful ears picked up every nighttime sound, and, fearful of what may have been lurking around them, she stayed very close behind Pikachu. In the first few minutes they ran across a small stream, and Meowth had said something to the effect that they could follow it to get to the clearing where the nighttime Pokemon were holding their party. Pikachu was starting to think they were lost.

"Buni, buneary," Buneary cried, suddenly, stopping in her tracks. Both the other two turned to look at her.

"Good idea," Meowth exhaled, tumbling backwards to sit with his stubby legs crossed. "Let's rest."

Pikachu didn't like the idea of letting all the fun start without him, but he was starting to get tired, too. Heistantly, he sat down, as well; Buneary immediately sat beside him, leaning against his side. Pikachu blinked, inching a little away, his paws against the blushing bunny's shoulder.

Meowth looked at the two of them and frowned. He wasn't sure why he frowned, but he did; something- a half-formed thought, perhaps, or a vague irritation- was itching at the back of his mind. He didn't even realize that his quick glance at the other two had prolonged for long enough to qualify as a stare until Pikachu's head tilted in the cat-pokemon's direction, and then he looked away as soon as he realized the yellow mouse had seen his expression.

The electric-type frowned. Just because Meowth didn't want them there, didn't mean he had to make it so obvious! Pikachu inched a little bit in the other direction, now- away from Meowth, and closer to Buneary.

For his part, Meowth wasn't certain why, but he was suddenly kind of irritated with Buneary. He didn't know why she had even tagged along. She didn't seem to believe him, she didn't seem excited about the prospect of the party either way, and she had her grungy little paws all over Meo- Team Rocket's future prize!

Meowth figured, if it were just he and Pikachu, they'd have already made it to the party. With the little bunny slowing them down, they'd probably already missed half of it!

Except, of course- _Oh, yeah. It's not real._

But Buneary didn't know that. For all she knew, she was ruining the whole thing for both of them, and she didn't seem to care any. And if it was already over by the time they got there, who would Pikachu blame? Not Buneary- he didn't even seem the least bit upset at her as he moved her paw off his and trotted over to the side of the stream. He'd blame Meowth- he'd say the Scratch-cat had gotten them lost in the woods while all the excitement was going down!

Which wasn't fair at all, Meowth mused. He and Pikachu got along, when no one else was around. Buneary was ruining it, just like Jessie and James and the twerps always ruined it. All on his own, the little yellow rat wasn't such a bad pokemon- he was actually a pretty good friend, if Meowth could consider him a friend. Meowth liked to consider him a friend, sometimes- even if they had their differences, and even if there were a lot of differences, and even if they settled them with physical confrontation as often as anything. They still had their good times...

"Pika!" Suddenly excited, Pikachu interrupted Meowth's idle thought-train and waved for the cat pokemon to come over to where he was standing, at the very edge of the stream. Meowth pushed himself to his feet; Buneary, still crouched in the grass, watched with her head tilted to the side.

"What's da matter?" Meowth asked, pausing beside the electric mouse's side and watching the flooded stream idly snake past them.

Energetically, Pikachu pointed at the stream, then at a short, twisted-looking palm tree a few hundred yards away, yammering out "Pikas!" and "Pikachus!" in short, rushed sentences. Then he ran over to the tree, chewed off one palm frond- thick, fully broad enough for several small pokemon to sit on, and buoyant- and dropped it in the stream. It floated, slowly, with the current.

"I don't t'ink dat's such a good idea," Meowth said, holding his paws out like he was warding the thoughts away. "I don't like da water all dat much. I t'ink I'd rather just walk on da side here..."

"Pikapi!" Grinning almost ear-to-ear (a particularly disconcerting expression on the little rodent's round face), Pikachu grabbed Meowth by the paw and dragged him to the side of the stream. He stepped backward onto the floating palm frond, which dipped under his weight but stayed afloat, and tugged the reluctant Meowth after him. Insistently. The feline hesitated, stammering excuses, but with one particularly enthusiastic yank Pikachu managed to haul the hesitant normal-type on board. Meowth was a little taller than Pikachu, standing on two feet, but weighed about the same; once again, the leaf-turned-boat dipped up and down, but didn't sink. It kept drifting slowly downstream.

Not one to be left behind, Buneary jumped onto the boat after them, and the three of them started to sail.

Meowth was uneasy at first. Uneasy, of course, in the same line of thinking by which a Ursaring mother might be 'miffed' to find her cub in a bear-trap. Uneasy in the white-knuckled, jaw clenched, tail lashing back and forth, whimpering out loud sort of way. The rain was a misty afterthought, now, but it was very dark out here and even with his feline night-sight, the stream was a strip of omnimous black against the dark-gray of their surroundings. Even though the ride was slow and gentle, every now and then Pikachu would shift or Buneary would twist in place and the leaf would buckle, letting water wash over it and soak Meowth's already-sodden toes. But they didn't sink.

Pikachu used his flat tail to paddle, which Meowth had to admit was kind of clever. When the stream bent a hair-pin turn around a knobbly tree, they might have run aground, but Meowth cried out a warning (his vision, of course, being much better than the mouse's this late at night) and the little rodent paddled feircely until they'd made the curve. And they didn't sink.

Eventually, Meowth stopped whimpering. His tail stilled, his grip on the side of the leaf weakened, his teeth stopped grinding together. Even though he was still decidedly damp and the remaining drizzle lingered, it was a warm night, and a gentle breeze blew through his fur and tickled his whiskers. "Dis was actually a pretty good idea, Pikachu," he said, grinning over his shoulder at the little mouse.

"Pika, pi chu pi!" Pikachu beamed, then, smiling broadly, asked, "Pikachu pika pi?"

"Oh, yeah, dis'll get us dere in no time!" Meowth replied, patting Pikachu on the back. And it was true, he figured. They'd be there way before the party was over! Except, of course... drat. "Unless, dey might have moved where dey was gonna have da bonfire. Last blue moon dey was talkin' about it."

A flash of... doubt, appeared in Pikachu's eyes, but then it was blocked out by the little rodent's enduring optimism, and he smiled hopefully. Meowth wished he was still that cheery all the time. It was one of the things he admired most about his opponent.

There was a lot, he figured, he admired about Pikachu. Those sort of traits came out a lot when they were alone- when the humans weren't around mucking everything up, Pikachu turned out to be brave, and clever, and generous, and all-in-all, not such a bad guy. He'd make a great teammate- the two of them made a great team!- and Meowth figured if Jesse and James hadn't always been around to mess him up, he and Pikachu could've been friends a long time ago and Pikachu probably would have already left those annoying twerps and joined up with his cat pal in the greatest criminal organization in the world.

Meowth looked over at Pikachu, slowly paddling with his tail and watching the ebony surface of the water roll beneath their boat, and frowned a little. Alright, so maybe Pikachu wouldn't have joined Team Rocket. Even without those twerps around he had too good a heart for it. They probably would have gone freelance, gone off together to... Meowth didn't know what they would have done, away from Team Rocket AND Pikachu's annoying human friends. He didn't know what pokemon did when there were no humans or dominant pokemon to tell them what to do. But they would've been together, and that was what made the idea... strangely appealing. The little mouse smiled suddenly at some inner thought and Meowth blushed without quite knowing why and jerked his gaze over to the stream in front of them.

Buneary didn't have much in the way of night-sight, but something suddenly told her all was not well. She didn't much like sailing (a fact which she didn't know until about two minutes after jumping on board Pikachu's make-shift boat) and she'd been sitting quietly, her paws clamped over her abdomen, trying to ignore the sick feeling in her gut AND her crush's conversation with The Enemy. But now she shifted forward, keeping one round, suspicious eye on Meowth.

But he didn't do anything, except to say, "I t'ink dere are rocks in da water ahead, Pikachu." They rose out starkly white in the black ribbon that was their waterway.

They were moving, he noticed, at quite a clip. He hadn't thought they were going this fast earlier, and he felt that spine-chilling 'unease' fire up again in the back of his mind. Buneary noticed it, too, apparently. "Buni buneary!"

"Yeah, we are." Meowth dragged the tips of his claws through the water and watched the spray rise up. "You must be paddlin' awfully fast."

"Pika," Pikachu corrected him; he wasn't paddling at all! He waved his tail, quite clearly out of the water, to emphasize his point, and grinned cheerfully. It was great to have the river do some of the work for a change!

Meowth's reaction was less-than-cheerful and stretched even his loose definition of 'unease'. "You mean da current is pullin' us along dis fast?" he screeched.

"Pika?"

Meowth leaned over the front edge of the palm frond and peered into the distance. The white splotch was getting bigger, fast, and a definite shape was beginning to form. "Dat's not a rock!" the cat cried, waving his paw hysterically. "Dat's a rapid!"

Everything else happened fast enough to blur. Buneary cried out for everyone to grab hold of the edge of their poor-man's boat, and they must have because no one fell out when they were suddenly being thrown side-to-side, spun in place, chucked clear through the air and, on one memorable and quite unpleasant occassion, dragged underwater in what was, now, clearly more than a stream and no less than a white-water river. After it was over, Buneary and Pikachu agreed that Meowth spent most of the event screaming, although the feline pokemon had no recollection.

And then, they were just sailing. Quickly, but smoothly. Meowth opened his eyes, glanced over- Pikachu was still there- and unclenched his paws from around the edge of the leaf. It took quite an effort.

"Pika pi?"

"I'm alright."

"Buni."

His whole body sore, Meowth forced himself to stand up straight. Bonus- he'd just re-defined the phrase 'soaked through to the skin' and he didn't even notice the rain.

"Buneary buni rii," the bunny observed, pointing at the trees rushing past them, faster with every one they passed. It didn't seem like a good sign to her.

Meowth tried to see what was ahead of them, but his vision was playing tricks on him. It looked like the river ended in just a dozen or so feet, just cut off like someone snipped it in half with a pair of scissors. He could see the landscape stretching out in the distance, but the river wasn't part of it. And they were hurtling towards the cut-off. Actually, it was like the whole landscape just... ended, and then started again somewhere else, like a cliff or a...

"WATERFALL!" he screamed, eyes bulging. Meowth lunged for Pikachu, Pikachu lunged for Meowth, Buneary lunged for both of them, and screaming and clinging to whatever they had reached, they plunged over the edge.

The leaf plummeted, Buneary lost her grip, and Meowth and Pikachu dropped, holding tightly to each other, their only contact with anything but air, as the night rushed past them. Meowth's life flashed before his eyes, and he was kind of disappointed. Well, the part with Meowsie was kind of an embarrassment; he gave up everything he had for her and was turned down at her doorstep. He started out with a coushy job in Team Rocket, then was kicked down to Grunt for no better reason than the Persian interloper and that one unfortunate happenstance that Giovanni only ever referred to as "The Maple Syrup Incident". Skitty had rejected him, Snubbull had stalked him, and even Jessie and James had kicked him out of camp.

But a long time ago, he had helped defeat a Pigeot and a Rhydon and survived almost alone in a very hostile environment- with a little help, maybe. He remembered a night where he wasn't watching the stars dance overhead all by himself, where he almost felt like he was more than a dead weight, where he almost had a friend. He clung a little tighter to his warm, fuzzy companion as the water filled his vision, and squeezed his eyes shut.

It felt like a very long time before he hit, but it could have been a little longer.

He felt himself continue to fall, speed slowing as he sank far, far below the river's surface, but already his conciousness was starting to fade away.

--

Time is relative, of course, and for Pikachu, the fall didn't last nearly long enough for his entire life to flash before him. He felt the palm frond drop out from under his feet and felt Buneary's grip on his tail disappear, and then there was the terrible wrench of inertia that made him feel like his insides were still hovering at the top of the cliff as he plummetted. He felt Meowth's grip tighten and squeezed harder in return, taking what comfort the cat-type's warm, albeit wet, fur had to offer.

And the next thing he knew, he was trying to inhale water and spinning head-over-heels in the current. He didn't remember the impact at all, because for him, the impact never happened. Meowth had broken his fall. Quite accidentally, of course, but it was still kind of sweet.

He knew the Rocket was out when the grip around his midsection slackened and Meowth turned from comforting companion to dead weight. Contrary to common belief, Pikachu, like every sentient being on the planet, had a little voice inside his head that told him to do bad things, and it told him that Meowth was his enemy and he was out of oxygen and he couldn't haul the feline all the way to the surface on his own, so he should let the normal-type go on to his watery fate and concentrate on getting himself to safety.

And Meowth was his enemy.

And the lack of air was making strange colors dance in front of Pikachu's eyeballs, which he had the sinking feeling had something to do with blacking out

.And while he wasn't entirely sure which direction was 'up', per se, Meowth's weight was making it difficult for Pikachu to do anything but follow the will of the currents.

It wouldn't necessarily be the bad, or mean thing to do. It'd be the smart thing. It'd be the self-preservation sort of thing.

Pikachu curled his fingers tighter in Meowth's fur and kicked his hind legs and paddled his tail and fought to get somewhere, anywhere, preferably somewhere with oxygen. Meowth might've been his enemy, but sometimes the cat was also his friend, when they were alone and they didn't have to fight, and they had a friendship like no one else's. Meowth had kept him safe before, that one time when Mew had whisked them away; Pikachu hadn't forgotten. He pried his eyes open- the muddy river water stung- and struggled to differentiate the slightly-darker river bottom from the slightly-lighter surface in the monochrome spectrum that dominated the night. He picked a direction and motored, as hard as he could, but splotches of darker-than-black were permeating his vision and the river's surface wasn't getting any closer.

Then, sharp teeth closed around his tail, and suddenly the surface was approaching at an alarming rate. The water's edge broke, and Pikachu dragged in a lungful of precious, precious air.

He was being dragged by the tail towards the shore, and that was just fine. He didn't even have to know what was dragging him, or why, at the moment. All he had to do was hold onto Meowth and breathe, and it would all be okay.

By the time they reached the muddy banks- the river had swollen in the night's storm, and the water had washed over the normal sandy slopes- Pikachu had about recovered. When his mysterious savior dropped his tail, he stumbled the rest of the way out of the water, dragging Meowth behind him and coughing up river-water. The first thing he noticed, when he was ready to notice things, was the light- there was a tiny fire built a safe distance away from the river's edge, and after a moment's adjustment, Pikachu found it possible to actually see. The pokemon who had kept the pair from drowning was a wild Floatsel, being enthusiastically thanked by a completely-drenched Buneary, and blushing strawberry pink when the bunny hugged him.

Pikachu lay Meowth out on the grass, intending to go over and thank Floatsel- who was engaging Buneary, who was trying to get away to go hug Pikachu- when he realized the cat pokemon wasn't moving.

"Pika?"

Completely still. Not breathing.

"Pika!" River, fire, Buneary and Floatsel completely forgotten, Pikachu lunged to the Rocket's side, gripping the feline's soft fur in both paws. "PIKA! Pika pi!"

No response. Meowth still didn't breathe.

Pikachu had never given his friendship with Meowth much thought. It was just sort of something that existed when no one else was around; a friendship of convenience and juxtaposition. It had never occurred to him that Meowth meant something to him, that if you took that away it left a hole in his heart where the cat had been. Because- well, because Meowth had never been taken away before. He was always there, and when he wasn't there, then you had to be on your toes 'cause he could jump out at any time, conniving and clever and delightfully wicked. Their crazy adventures and sometimes mean-spirited rivalry added up to something, but Pikachu had never bothered to do the math before.

His vision swam when tears stung at his eyes, and he didn't notice them because he wasn't seeing his rival with his eyes anymore; the image of Meowth that smiled in his mind's eye was the conniving cat who had convinced him once, in a moment of bad judgement and amnesia, that they were best friends, partners, peas in a pod. It had been a fun life for the one day they'd lived it- Pikachu had never even admitted that to himself.

"Pikachuuuu!" Without even really realizing it Pikachu had charged an electric attack and unleashed it on the feline pokemon in a blinding flash of yellow light. His paws clenched around Meowth's fur and he thought he felt the cat move a little bit under them. Hope surged, and he unleashed another Thundershock, stronger than before. Meowth had, after all, built up a bit of resistance over the years. On the third Thundershock, Meowth's eyes opened. His mouth gaped; he tried to inhale, but water still filled his lungs and he started coughing. Rolled over, planted all four paws in the mud and coughed harder, sputtered, choked, and finally, gasped in lungful after lungful of air.

For a long time, the other three- Pikachu, Buneary, and the lingering Floatsel- stared, unmoving at him as he slowly tottered to his feet. He took in the waterfall, the swollen river, the mangled palm frond drifting downstream, the fire, the forest... and then spun to face Pikachu. "What on earth was DAT? Dat was da BEST way you could t'ink of ta wake me up?" he snapped, eyes narrowed. He looked over his somewhat-singed coat, then rubbed his paws over his face. "You burned my fur! I can't feel my whiskers! Are you even listenin'?"

Pikachu only beamed in response.

"Pikachu?" Meowth asked, puzzled now, his anger fading out in the face of the little yellow mouse's smile.

For a second, he thought he'd broken Pikachu; the electric-type hesitated, his happy expression frozen in place. Then- "Pika!" he cried, throwing himself at a very confused Meowth, who accepted the squeeze with a puzzled half-smile. The rodent's eyes glimmered; at first, Meowth thought it was just the rain, but when Pikachu pressed his face against the feline's chest, he realized the little drops of water were warm against his fur. Hesitantly, he hugged the little yellow guy back.

Pikachu pulled away after a second and shot Meowth a heart-stopping smile. It dumbfounded the cat. He barely survived a lot of things; no one ever seemed this grateful for it before. A lot of the time, no one seemed particularly grateful at all.

And then Pikachu bounded over to Buneary to give the bunny her long-awaited squeeze and to thank the trio's savior.

--

"Pika! Pika pi!"

"T'anks again! Bye!"

"Buneary riii!"

Floatsel, hip-deep in the river, shot a grin at the trio over his shoulder, his glance lingering a little longer on Buneary than on the other two. He'd seen the little bunny bobbing up and down in the river as he went for his midnight swim, and had instantly hustled over to (quite heroically) pull her to safety. She was a cute little thing, and had been grateful for the rescue, but had panicked when she realized her companion was still in the water and had begged her savior to go in after Pikachu, too. Not one to turn down such a frantic request from such a cute female, the weasel had, of course, complied- only to realize that the bunny's obvious crush on the Pikachu had ruined his chances with her.

Not that there weren't attractive females along the river, too, of course. With a quick wave, he put the little group out of his mind and ducked back under the water.

Pikachu watched the orange weasel vanish under the black surface, his thoughts chasing each other in circles around his head. He wasn't sure if he wanted to wander off into the woods in the darkness anymore. On one paw, he'd really wanted to be there for the party. Meowth's story had captivated him, and he'd come all this way just to see what the fuss was about. Not to mention that giving up on getting there felt like... well, it felt like giving up, and that left a sour taste in Pikachu's mouth.

But on the other paw- it was becoming increasingly obvious that Meowth had no idea where they were going. And, moreover, they'd had quite the adventure just getting this far. They had a little fire, the rain was almost gone, and they were all okay. There was something to be said for that. "Pika, pikachu. Pipipika pi, chaa."

"You jus' wanna stay here fer the night?" Meowth asked, blinking. It was a surprise- he wasn't used to good luck, and here he was, trying to force another drop of brilliance out of his exhausted mind to try and lie his way out of taking his midnight compatriots to a gathering that never actually existed. His exhausted mind wasn't cooperating- the fact that he felt kind of slimy lying to the Pokemon that had just saved his life wasn't the smallest reason for that.

"Pika pi."

Meowth looked at Buneary- who didn't look at him- and then back at Pikachu. "It would be easier t' find our way back in da morning," he decided, with a little smile.

--

The rain stopped while they were gathering firewood. Meowth didn't even notice for a few minutes, and then, with a start, he stood upright, held out a paw, and waited for a spot of wetness that never fell.

His spirits skyrocketed. There is nothing cheerful about a damp housecat, and the prospects of getting dry and staying dry appealed more than any other prospects Meowth had been presented with that night. Not that he had been presented with all that many appealing prospects, mind. He hummed softly to himself as he picked up stick after stick of firewood until his arms were full and he was hugging the pile to his chest. He had known the whole time, of course- through Thundershocks and waterfalls and near-death experiences- that everything would turn out perfectly.

--

"Pika, pika piiiii!" His yellow fur glinting in the firelight, Pikachu balanced on one hind paw, eyes wide, forepaws clenched, in a poor but clear imitation of Meowth's white-water terror. Buneary was laughing, her ears flopping up and down. Meowth was not. In recounting their epic adventures, the intrepid travelers couldn't stop themselves from poking a little fun, and the Rocket wasn't particularly good at enduring teasing.

"I did not look like dat!"

"Buni buni riii," Buneary argued, giggling.

"Did not!" Meowth frowned quite petulantly and refused to look at either one of them, although when Pikachu plopped down beside him and touched his arm he did glace over his shoulder at the little mouse.

"Pikaa." Pikachu caught the feline's eyes and smiled, good-naturedly, until he had coaxed a return smirk from the normal-type. No hurt feelings were meant!

"Oh, like you wasn't scared at all goin' over dose rapids," Meowth retorted, rolling his blue eyes. Gingerly, he touched one paw to his side. "I t'ink you left bruises."

Pikachu stuck out his tongue, then laughed. The bonfire they built- because it definitely was a bonfire; the wet wood had dried quickly and their little campfire had swollen up into a giant flame- had efficiently dried out the soaked-through Pokemon. While wandering around looking for firewood, Buneary had stumbled over a bush teeming with Pecha berries and had brought back enough for a decent meal for the trio, and now they were all three warm, well-fed, safe and happy. It was a good feeling. After all those shots of adrenaline, Pikachu was feeling himself getting kind of sleepy, and he saw Buneary yawning out of the corner of his eye.

"Pika, pikapikachu," he said, pointing to a patch of soft moss that would be a perfect bed for the bunny pokemon to nap on: near enough to the fire for warmth, but far enough away for her safety.

"Buni," she agreed, smiling shyly as she gave the electric rodent a quick goodnight hug. He hugged her back and, not for the first time, puzzled over the pink tinge on her cheeks as she pulled away and scurried over to the soft bed he'd picked out for her. She curled up on the moss nest, her paws tucked against her belly, turned towards the bonfire, and for once didn't have any trouble falling into a fast slumber.

Meowth was not puzzled about the way Buneary blushed at Pikachu, and there was a lump in his throat the size of a Voltorb when he thought about it. He'd thought... for a second there...

That was crazy, though. Pikachu saving Meowth's life didn't mean anything like that- Pikachu would risk his life for the life of any pokemon, big or small, good or bad. It was just Pikachu's nature.

They sat in silence for several long minutes before Meowth finally said, "So, youse two..."

Then, several more minutes of silence while Meowth waited for Pikachu to answer the implied question that the electric-type didn't quite get. "Chu?"

"Never mind." Meowth watched the puzzled rodent out of the corner of his eye, blushing Luvdisc-pink.

Pikachu noticed, and sighed, annoyed by his own confusion. He'd never understood 'blushing'. He hadn't understood it when Ash and Brock had thrown their laundry in with Misty's without telling her back in their early Kanto days- a perfectly normal, efficient course of action, or so the electric rodent had thought. Misty had been washing the clothes in a Pokemon Center's washing machiene, and having double-handfuls of the boys' underwear had turned the water trainer beet red. He hadn't understood it when Charizard had gone to live in Charizard Valley and the other fire-type, Charla had been able to coax a pink flush out of Ash's monster with one sideways glance. He hadn't understood when Brock... well, Pikachu had a hard time understanding Brock at all, sometimes.

Now Buneary couldn't get within a few inches of Pikachu without turning scarlet and even Meowth- whom Pikachu had known for as long as he'd known any pokemon- was acting strangely. "Chaa, pika pi?"

"Wrong?" Meowth's triangle ears swept back, and he avoided Pikachu's eyes. "Not'ing's wrong." He was watching the rain clouds fade away, his blue eyes fixated on the stars as, one by one, their pinpricks of light broke free from the gray haze covering them. Pikachu liked the way the white glitter reflected in a shimmering pattern off Meowth's irises, and the quietly intense expression on the feline's face, as though he himself were clearing the clouds with willpower alone. He thought about mentioning it (surely, the normally bumbling Scratch-cat would be pleased to hear that, in his reflective mood, he managed to look both poised and attractive) but, for some reason, he was embarrassed to. So he stayed silent as he watched the Rocket feline, and then, finally, followed Meowth's line of sight, counting the billions of stars that dotted the sky. Out here, the star-gazing was fantastic- no city lights competed with the night sky and the universe spread out fully above them.

They were both quiet for a long time. There's a certain kind of companionship that thrives best in silence, the way some flowers only bloom in winter, and between them it blossomed comfortably. Pikachu moved a little closer to Meowth, so their sides were pressed together and, even damp though they were, they could keep each other more-or-less warm while they studied the sky and thought their private thoughts.

"Look," Meowth finally said, after some time had passed- exactly how much, neither of them knew, but both were aware that it was not so early in the evening anymore. The normal-type pointed, straight down the river, where the last, lowest coil of cloud-cover had finally drifted off. Hovering directly above the black water was the moon.

Pikachu had never seen a Blue Moon before, so he hadn't know what to expect. It seemed to him more white, perhaps, than blue, but it was bigger, rounder, brighter, fuller, and more brilliant than any moon he'd ever seen before. It sat just on the horizon, as though it were floating on the river way off in the distance, and its reflection stretched out over the surface of the water, highlighting waves and ripples and whirlpools.

It was breath-takingly pretty, and Pikachu said as much.

"You think so?" Meowth asked. He seemed pleased to hear it, as though he'd made the moon himself and hadn't been sure if anyone else really liked it.

"Pika."

"I do, too." The villian smiled, glancing sideways at Pikachu. The mouse was still staring at the horizon, his brown eyes brightened by the moon's clear light.

Meowth was happy. He hadn't been happy- truly happy, the kind of happy you can't get from food or money or a lazy Saturday morning; the kind of happy someone has to give you, like a gift- in a long, long, long time, and so he didn't recognize it right away. But nevertheless, he was.

--

Pikachu didn't know when he'd fallen asleep. He didn't remember deciding to go to sleep, or even lying down in the soft grass, but at some point he must have, because he woke up at dawn to singing Starly in the trees, the sun's first rays just beginning to shine over the edge of the world.

He was pretty sure Meowth had still been watching the night sky when the mouse had, eventually, dozed off; now the Scratch-cat was asleep, curled up beside him. His spiral tail was wrapped around Pikachu's body, keeping the electric-type warm through the slightly-chilly night. On her own bed, Buneary was still dreaming as well, her long, long ears twitching occassionally in her slumber.

Their fire had dwindled to nothing while they'd slept, and even the coals were cold, now. There were still a few berries left from the night before, though; careful not to disturb Meowth, Pikachu quietly got up and tip-toed over to the tiny stash, selecting one that was slightly bruised so his companions could eat the better ones, and biting into the sweet, tangy fruit. They had a long walk ahead of them, after all, and he might as well have a good breakfast beforehand!

He had almost finished the snack by the time Meowth stirred, mumbled something about zombie Whismur being initiated into Team Rocket, opened his blue eyes a crack, then sat up. "Where am... oh. Right. All dat."

For one second, Pikachu was nervous. The night before, he and Meowth had been friends, but their relationship was a study in sea-changes and the electric rodent wouldn't have been surprised if the morning had brought back the more familiar, and more sinister, side of Meowth. But all the Scratch-cat did was climb to his feet and, slightly wobbly on his paws after his quite nearly sleepless night, walk over to take a piece of fruit for breakfast.

Neither of them said much. Neither of them were quite sure _what_ to say, because neither had figured out whether they were friends or enemies, today. It wasn't a particularly good feeling for Meowth, who had, after all, been rescued (once again) by his rival after leading the good-guy Pokemon on another dangerous, crazy, unnecessary adventure and was beginning to think he'd never figure out the relationship between them.

He wasn't sure he liked this, going back and forth between friends and enemies- between being Pikachu's ally and trying to kidnap him. If you had asked him a year ago how things should be between the Pokemon, he would have told you, quite indignantly, that they were enemies and that was how they should be all the time- and that one of these days he was gonna _capture_ Pikachu and give him to the Boss and then the whole question would be moot. But lately... he was starting to think he liked being on Pikachu's side. For one thing, it was usually the winning side.

But mostly, it was the side _Pikachu_ was on. And Meowth- to Pikachu's exasperation, the normal-type turned Pecha-berry pink thinking about it- preferred to be right next to the mouse, rather than watching him from behind a bush.

He finished the berry he was eating and licked some of the sticky juice from his paws- and then, in a moment of unthinking, impulsive courage, he said, "Y'know, Pikachu..."

"Buni!" Buneary chirped, cutting off Meowth as she hopped up from her mossy nest. "Buni buneary rii!"

And, as she trotted up to them and smiled coyly at Pikachu, Meowth's courage and voice died simultaneously and he left the rest of the thought unsaid.

Pikachu smiled warmly at the bunny Pokemon, and offered her the last berry for breakfast. Then, it was just a matter of waiting for her to eat, then starting the long walk back to the camp.

The sun had just been inching above the horizon when Buneary had woken and it hadn't been up for long by the time they started walking; if they hurried, they might get back before Ash and the others could get too worried. Or so, at least, Pikachu kept telling himself. Meowth, for his part, wasn't overly concerned with Jessie and James' state of mind. He wasn't entirely confident they'd notice him gone.

But it was a harder journey back than it had been to get there. For one, they were following the river upstream, now, so sailing back on the water was out of the question. It would take all three of them to paddle up even the calmest part of the river, and it was less effort just to walk. Not to mention that the waterfall that had dropped them so unceremoniously the night before didn't pick them back up again and put them where they'd started, at the top of the cliff- so there was a good deal of climbing to do, and it was a smooth, steep cliff besides.

Pikachu let Buneary and Meowth start climbing before he started, himself, with an anxious glance up to the very top of the cliff. It was a foreboding sight, way, way above their heads, and while he was pretty sure he could make the climb through sheer grit if nothing else, he worried about the other two. He figured if he were the last Pokemon in line, he could catch one of the others if they started to slip, or support them if they missed a foothold.

It was a long, long, long climb. Buneary clambored over the crest of the cliff, first, panting in exhaustion. She immediately sank to her belly, groaning something unintelligible but definitely unhappy.

It was a while before Pikachu popped over the top of the cliff, his dark eyes fixed on Meowth, who was still struggling to finish the climb. The electric mouse cast a worried glance at Buneary, but once he'd established she was okay (although too tired to even be uphappy when Pikachu's attention drifted away from her), he scampered right back to the edge of the cliff. Gripping with his hind feet to the rocks, he leaned back down the ledge and reached his paw down to Meowth, who risked taking one forepaw of his own off a handhold for long enough to reach up and grab onto Pikachu's wrist with all his strength.

Together- Meowth's legs pedalling and Pikachu pulling with all his strength- they managed to pull the scratch-cat's spent body up onto level ground again. Meowth collapsed forward and lay as he'd fallen, gasping for air, while Pikachu sat on his haunches with his ears back and eyes closed, searching for his second wind.

"Pika, pika pi" he said, the syllables ragged around the edges. "Pi pikachu."

Buneary lifted her head, slowly, and then sat up. "Buneary, rii," she muttered, flipping one ear out of her face. "Buni buneary rii."

Meowth raised himself up to his elbows but made no effort to sit upright. When he'd caught his breath well enough for words, he said, "Buneary's right, Pikachu. Dere's still a long walk before we're almost back."

Pikachu's ears pinned back, and he looked at the sun- now over the horizon in its entirety and rising higher every second. He didn't say anything, just got up and started walking again, slowly but with certainty, following along the river.

Meowth groaned but rose unsteadily to his feet; Buneary got up with a little more energy and started hustling after Pikachu, leaving the Scratch-cat to bring up the rear.

They didn't pause again until it was almost noon, and Pikachu was starting to get very nervous about his trainer. Meowth had found another bush teeming with berries, but while he and Buneary happily feasted on an early lunch, Pikachu fidgeted, paced, and eventually simply sat on the riverbank, watching his reflection. He had a very distressed-looking reflection, but, he supposed, misery did love company.

He was staring at the yellow face looking back at him without really seeing it when another face suddenly joined his own on the water's surface. Meowth was holding a half-eaten berry in one paw and a whole one in the other, and smiling from one pointed ear to the other. The food was bringing back his energy, and with it bringing the simple joy that being well-fed can offer.

The smile vanished when he saw Pikachu's expression, though, and he carefully sat beside the little yellow rodent, trying to keep the mud and river from getting his newly-dried fur wet again. "W-what's da matter?" he asked, taking a bite of berry and then trying very hard to look concerned.

Pikachu hesitated, then forced a smile and a nonchalant "Pika!" He knew better than to expect Meowth had any real interest in his problems, after all.

The Scratch-cat surprised him, however. "Yer worried about dat twerp, ain't ya?"

After so many years, Pikachu barely felt anything more than a twinge of annoyance at Meowth's choice of terms for his beloved trainer, but he _was_ grateful for- and a little taken aback by- the feline's concern. "Pi," he confessed, with a small nod.

Meowth smiled in the most reassuring way he could. It wasn't particularly reassuring, but it was the thought that really counted. "Don't worry," he said, shifting from one foot to the other, a little awkwardly. Pikachu tilted his head to the side, while the feline paused to try and think of something comforting to say. "After all dis time," he finally blurted, "I'm sure he's learned you can take care of yerself. He probably won't even worry 'bout ya."

Pikachu blinked,confirming for himself that Meowth had actually _said_ that, then forced himself to smile back. Both he and Meowth knew that was a lie- despite knowing how powerful the electric-type was, Ash would worry about Pikachu nonstop until he had his star pokemon back in his arms. But, while the sentiment itself wasn't very comforting, Pikachu did appreciate the attempt. He even accepted Meowth's offer of the berry for an early lunch, and discovered to his surprise he was actually hungry. Buneary, who had just finished eating lunch, herself, happily offered the mouse another, which he gratefully accepted, and ate.

Once they started walking again, Pikachu's thoughts wandered freely, and he was surprised to realize his earlier melancholy was gone. Ash had plenty of powerful pokemon, after all; he was almost certainly fine left on his own overnight. Pikachu felt himself relax a little bit more, and even tried to enjoy the walk they were taking, watching Starly flit from tree to tree, screaming down at the three pokemon walking along the riverbank, and a small school of Fineon swimming just under the surface of the water.

He wondered why Meowth would bother to try and make him feel better.

It wasn't usually at the top of the normal-type's to-do list, after all. At least, not normally. The Rocket was his enemy, his rival, his arch-nemesis (as much of a bumbling failure as he was, Pikachu was forced to admit) but sometimes, he acted like a close friend, the kind of pokemon Pikachu was grateful to know. Sometimes Pikachu was happy to have him around, happy to _be_ around him. It wasn't like he didn't love being Ash's pokemon, a champion battler and a faithful companion, but sometimes it was nice to be parted, just for a little while, from the humans, to just be pokemon together, having an adventure.

Meowth never asked Pikachu to battle, not unless their lives were in danger. Meowth never expected Pikachu to be a good guy, to share with him or protect him or just stay with him; he never took that sort of thing for granted, and it felt good, to just be himself and have it appreciated as much as the Scratch-cat would appreciate it.

And then, just when Pikachu started to think they were starting to be real friends, Meowth would reunite with the rest of Team Rocket and Pikachu would just be a trophy to him again, a prize to take to his Boss.

It was confusing, and it made Pikachu feel weird- a little dizzy, a little warm. And, his stomach hurt, just a little, the way it did when he and Ash and the others would send Team Rocket spinning through the sky and Pikachu's eyes would follow Meowth, for just a second, before he disappeared against the sun...

Pikachu glimpsed over at the Scratch-cat in question, deep in thought to the mouse's left. Meowth held his front paws in front of him and watched the ground as he walked, his tail twitching a little. Sometimes, Pikachu had noticed over the years, it did that when he was thinking hard about something in particular. The electric-type wondered what was on his mind.

He wondered if their situation ever bothered Meowth.

For some reason, he hoped it did- he really did. He didn't want the Scratch-cat to be happy with the status quo- not just because he always lost, and losing always ended in physical pain, but... because Pikachu wanted _his_ friendship to be important to _Meowth_, too. It seemed silly- it wasn't much of a friendship, and Meowth's small circle of 'friends' were all pretty terrible to each other, anyway. But the desire was there nonetheless. Even though he knew- knew- that once they got back to their respective humans the age-old struggle would begin again.

He didn't want to be the only one who wanted more. And there, that implacable feeling again- a little dizzy, a rush of warmth.

He glimpsed at the river, and his reflection caught his eye. He was blushing, just slightly, pale-pink under the yellow fur. He paused, for a second, to stare down at the round face staring back up at him.

And then, it all made sense. Well, perhaps it didn't make _sense_- but Pikachu had been among his human friends for long enough to learn that these things usually don't.

--

Buneary heard the voices long before either of the other two did. They were all exhausted, dragging their paws as they walked along the muddy riverbank, blinking blearily as they struggled to stay upright, but the moment he saw the bunny Pokemon's large ears twitch upward, Meowth knew their adventure was at last coming to an end.

He wasn't sure whether he was happy or upset about it. Oh, sure, he was looking forward to seeing Jessie and James again, and getting in a good catnap, maybe on James' shoulders- and he knew, where the twerps were, his friends wouldn't be far behind. But still- he cast a glance to his right, where Pikachu was staring with wide, hopeful brown eyes at the woods in front of them- he was kind of enjoying the company, a little bit.

And then he, and Pikachu, heard the same thing Buneary had heard before them- a faint, young, male voice yelling, "Pikachu! Pikachu? Where are you?'

"Buneary!" a female voice shouted. "Come back, Buneary!"

That was more than enough for Buneary, who ran towards the voices, vanishing into the undergrowth. Meowth glimpsed over at Pikachu, but, to his surprise, the electric rodent hadn't bolted for his trainer's voice, yet. He smiled at the Scratch-cat, head tilted just slightly to the side. "Pika. Pika pi."

Meowth smiled down at the mouse Pokemon. "Yep, we made it back," he chirped, patting Pikachu lightly on the back.

Pikachu figured Team Rocket was probably lurking around somewhere, and as soon as he left to find Ash (who was still calling for Pikachu, and probably now running nobly and with great determination in his direction, like a good trainer ought to) he figured Meowth would find his teammates and start to plot their next attempt to capture rare and powerful pokemon. And he said as much.

Meowth paused for a second, and wondered if he should tell Pikachu that Team Rocket was never, ever going to catch him, that none of the trio would ever hand their arch nemesis over to Giovanni, that they were stuck together like the tail on a Smeargle for better or for worse, and that Meowth, for one, wouldn't have it any other way. He wondered, briefly, if he should mention that he saw the electric mouse as an enemy only half the time, and the other half of the time Pikachu was the only Pokemon Meowth felt he could relate to, the only one he really felt close to, all that fighting aside.

He didn't, of course. It wasn't really the time or the place.

What he said was, "What d'ya mean, 'attempt'? I'll have you know dat I already _have_ a plan dat's foolproof! Team Rocket's catapaultin' it's way back ta glory!" and, somehow, the rest was just subtext.

Pikachu could read it, though. You didn't know a scratch-cat this long without being able to know what he was _really_ saying underneath all those ridiculous human words.

He giggled, Meowth smirked. And then, without any further warning, Pikachu lurched forward and pressed his lips, just briefly, to Meowth's.

An H-bomb of butterflies was set off instantaneously. An arc of lightning on an otherwise cloudless day struck both of them and flipped them around in circles until neither of them knew which way was up and which way was down.

And then Pikachu, blushing pink under his yellow fur, pulled away, smiled shyly, and darted into the woods, chirping Ash's name gleefully as he shot for his trainer's arms.

Meowth had his paw at his lips and was blushing so hard his fur almost caught on fire when his wits finally started to gather again. It took him a while to sort the whole thing out, and the whole time he was staring at the spot where Pikachu had vanished into the undergrowth.

And then, he smiled.

He was, after all, the self-appointed Brains of Team Rocket. He had an aching crush, a series of brilliant plans for accumulating wealth and power, the innate ability to land on his feet even after flying three miles through the lower atmosphere with his tail on fire, and the self-assurance all lucky Meowths have that everything will turn out alright in the end.

He knew everything would turn out alright in the end.

Humming to himself, he struck out on his own to find the Brawn to his Brains and leap back into wicked, wicked action.


End file.
